* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #834 / Revived #054 on 2024 04 10 *

Welcome to the Wednesday Comments and Critique (No Theme & No Brand) thread!

We are dedicated to continuing the great tradition of this C&C thread because we are convinced that looking at, and talking about images is vital for better photography.

Our tried and tested concept (15 years and running!) is a weekly "peer-to-peer" photo comments & critique encounter, in which you GIVE and RECEIVE.

The idea is simple: you post an image and get critique on it, and in return give other people your opinion of their images, or vice versa.

Any Theme, Any Camera, Any Style, Any Subject.

We are still figuring out how to create the convenience of threaded view on this new forum.
For now, let us agree that you post an image with a title and short explanation, and that all comments include the image as a quote.
Replies to comments may or may not include quotes.

THREAD GUIDELINES – THE SHORT & SWEET VERSION
• This thread does not care about brands. It’s not about the tool, but the image.
• Post one image that you would like to get comments on (exceptions: see below).
• Add a clear title to your post to reflect the image’s title and distinguish your entry.
• Look at the other images and give your comments on at least one of those.
• For comments, try to go beyond a simple pat on the back or a short dismissal.
• Do you like an image (or essay) ? Try to explain WHY it appeals to you.
• Negative feedback is OK (we all want to learn), but be polite and constructive. Try to explain why the image (or essay) does not appeal to you and how it might be improved.

We will start with single images.
Re-establishing our C&C for essays will be a next step.
Please limit any individual contribution to a single image. This avoids confusion.

The critique you give is vital.
What was your first impression? What catches your eye about an image? Why?
What do you like, and what distracts you? What would you change?

Fiddle with the image in your head - composition, perspective, color balance, exposure.

PLEASE NOTE CLEARLY:
It is understood that unless the original poster specifically states that they do not want an altered image posted that you are free to alter the posted image and repost it in a reply for C&C purposes (no use for other purposes!). That reposted image may remain permanently or you may remove it after a short period of time if you prefer. No copyright disputes here!

Encourage - it is a scary business putting your work up for other people to judge!

More general feedback is also welcome.
Do you know something about taking the same sort of image that would make matters easier - share your own as an example in your reply.

And finally, here are some useful hints for navigating and familiarizing yourself with the forum mechanics of DPRevived:
• Unfortunately, there is no threaded view (yet). We can’t simply keep images and their related comments together like we used to. So please make clear about which image you are commenting.
• To do that, you may make good use of the “quote” feature. This allows you to keep the image in your reply. Excess content can be deleted. The “preview” button allows you to look at what you are going to post.
• There is a difference between the “reply” button that sits at the top of the forum, and the reply buttons under every post.
• A few threads in this new forum with useful navigation information:
dprevived.com/t/how-to-use-this-site/387/
and
dprevived.com/t/how-to-embed-photos-into-your-post-directly-from-flickr/456/
(this applies also, with modifications, to other photo hosting websites)
and
dprevived.com/t/how-to-quote/1014/
Have fun and let’s stick together!

WOMEN CYCLING

UCI Professional Cycling comes to my home town Schoten every year, with the Scheldeprijs, one of the "classic races" and widely considered to be the "informal world championship for sprinters", because it is a mostly flat race that almost invariably ends in a mass sprint.

The race takes place on the Wednesday between the Tour of Flandres (a monument race) and Paris-Roubaix (another monument). The biggest contenders for those other (somewhat bigger) races seldom participate in the Scheldeprijs, unless they use it as an intensive training without taking the risk to crash in the sprint. A champion like Van Der Poel might be someone who could indeed succeed in arriving solo, but that is exceptional.

Anyway, when I have the time, I enjoy picking a good spot on the last part of the race (three local rounds of 17 km) to see the riders pass me a few times.
I've posted my self in previous years at the finish line, on the cobblestones stretch and in various other spots.

This year I went to a bridge alongside the canal and used two vantage points: one on the bridge itself, with the riders racing under me and another a bit further, where I had a straight view onto the riders making a curve into a slight elevation (where I stood perched behind a railing).

I shot a few bursts of images with manual settings of the Women race.

Here are two images, both cropped to different ratios (1:1 square and 16:9 panorama) from the original 4:3 ratio.

Melbourne Icon. 1.
Chloe. The most famous girl in Melbourne.
Chloe has graced the walls of the Young and Jackson's Hotel since 1909. Generations of Australians have saluted her with a drink. On ANZAC day, this bar is permitted to run the highly illegal game of Two Up. This is the traditional gambling game of Australian soldiers. All proceeds go to a charity that looks after the families of veterans that did not return.
Through the window is another Melbourne icon, the clocks of Flinders Street railway station. Couples have traditionally met under those clocks since the 1850's.

I didn't have the level of success I had hoped for, b ut I got a few keepers.

8 of us flew from NJ to VT in two planes and the weather barely held for us. I feel pretty lucky and I did learn a lot. Spain 2026, I'm looking forward to trying again!

Auto Edit by Lightroom

EDIT:

I attempted to tweak it for better result in Lightroom.
Really, if I hadn't had my shutter set to a 2 second timer I would have had 3 or 4 shots to choose from and I think a half or quarter second earlier would have been really amazing.

I like the way this looks, almost like the painting is a thought in one of the patron's head.

My Eclipse Adventure
My son and I took his two youngest sons (9 and 12) on a quest for eclipse totality. This quest ended up in a little village called Newport, Arkansas, population 2000, on the White River. There was a nice little state park open to all comers, and the crowd was modest and friendly, lots of dogs and children, and a couple of dedicated astronomy guys with sophisticated equipment we could mooch viewing time off of. I deliberately left my better/longer lenses behind, taking only my humble consumer short zoom and no filters, so I wouldn't be tempted to fiddle, and could focus on the experience and the kids. What I found interesting photographically was the challenge of capturing (and keeping through editing) the strangely impeded light and the color that diminished as the eclipse progressed.

[]

Lilly

No Solar Eclipse images here.

Rich

Both photos bring out an aspect of cycle racing that would terrify me. All those riders. All that speed. All that exposed skin. All that hard and abrasive road. I don't want to think about it.

Thanks. It is part of what I saw as well.

You caught the double circles and even a sun flare. I like your positioning of the bright circle. Well done.
Would it be possible to make the image a little darker still?

Bad Weather, Good Weather?

One day in Bhutan we visited a Giant Buddha overlooking the capital city of Thimphu, with a good view of the city and surrounding countryside from the platform. When we got there, it was pouring with rain and the clouds were so low, we were right in them.(To be fair to the clouds, we were at nearly 7,700 feet!) No views to be had that day. How disappointing. Then I realised that actually the fog made a really surreal atmosphere, gradually hiding features of the giant construction, then revealing them again. In fact it was rather cool.
The golden building on the left of the photo is actually the base of the statue, which incorperates a temple.

Pete

Spring has come

To me, the fog diffused figure on the right is very important in this shot. In trying to make out the details, we explore into the mist. A series of horizontal lines, plus the horse looking back over its shoulder, also encourage the same connection. I feel that there is something of a conflict between vertical lines and horizontal lines here. Perhaps crop a little off the top to eliminate the little piece of building that projects upwards and perhaps crop some off the bottom?

Small and even smaller dew drops suspended in a small web close to the ground. Hidden in shadow all day, taken later afternoon.

Although a bicycle gave a sense of freedom as a kid, along with a few scrapes and bruises, I always felt bike racing the ultimate masochistic endevour. But each to their own.

A long way away from any eclipse here, but I have followed many threads with their results. You got the sought after diamond ring and a flare in the one pic! I agree with Mike, if highlights could be reduced to soften the brightness a bit.

I can quite imagine Genghis Khan and his troops on horseback or a group of Shaolin monks appearing out of the fog. You have captured a medieval Asian scene in misty wonder.

Weather hasn't been too good last couple of weeks. Reviewing a few I like this species. He is a bit larger than the other one I have been showing. I like the red in his rear wings - it is just a blur in flight but adds to his apparent size. Almost impossible to capture in flight because he darts all over the place and rarely hovers.